Napoli put three unanswered goals past Empoli in a dominant display at the Maradona to move within three points of the Serie A summit.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring when he latched onto Romelu Lukaku's pass and carried the ball forward before firing in a low drive from 20 yards out.
Ten minutes into the second half, Lukaku made it 2-0 with a tidy control and finish from inside the area.
The Belgian then provided the cross for McTominay to meet with a towering header and notch his second of the game.
Antonio Conte praised both his own team and the opponents after the final whistle.
“We played an excellent game against opponents who showed how good they are and personally I hope they can stay up. We were missing a few players in different positions but we came up with answers. Today we've sent out a message to anyone who doubted our mental and physical stamina. We finished the second half on the up.
“I think this team has grown so much over the months – the team that played Empoli in the reverse fixture was a far cry from this one. The group we have here has grown in confidence and shown we can battle with Inter even when faced with problems. That seemed unthinkable at the start of the season. Now we want to keep bothering a juggernaut of a team that are showing their worth in the Champions League too.”
Scott McTominay bagged himself a brace courtesy of a pair of assists from Romelu Lukaku.
“I'm happy with my goals and I want to thank Romelu for the assists. He's a key player for us, both on the pitch and in the dressing room. We got a big win today and we want to carry on like this to keep chasing our dream.”
Matteo Politano was pleased to see Napoli return to winning ways.
“We wanted to win today to get ourselves back on track and we did that with a strong showing. We have six games left and we'll put everything into it to try and go as high as we can.”
Napoli 3-0 Empoli (HT 1-0)
Scorers: McTominay 18, 61, Lukaku, 56.
NAPOLI: Meret, Mazzocchi (Spinazzola 75), Rrahmani, Juan Jesus (Rafa Marin 72), Olivera, Gilmour (Billing 82), Lobotka, McTominay, Politano (Ngonge 82), Neres, Lukaku (Raspadori 82).
Coach: Antonio Conte.
EMPOLI: Vasquez; Goglichidze, Marianucci, Viti (Ebuhei 72), Gyasi, Grassi, Henderson, Pezzella; Cacace (Sambia 82), Fazzini (Colombo 60) Esposito.
Coach: Roberto D’Aversa
Referee: Fabbri (Ravenna).
Booked: Lukaku, Goglichidze.
